The Associated Press reported the hostage was a longtime American aid worker. NBC News was not able immediately confirm that.

Daouda Maiga, governor of Mali's Menaka region, which borders Niger, told the AP that several armed men burst into the aid worker's house and took him after killing two others at the scene.

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Foreigners have been kidnapped in Niger before for ransom, but this is believed to be the first time an American national has been taken hostage there, according to news agency Agence France-Presse.